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Councillor Paul Gittings, lead member for culture and sport, said: "People who use libraries continue to value them, but severe cuts in Government funding mean many councils - including some close to home - have been forced to consider shutting down branches to make savings.

"An estimated 343 libraries have closed in the last six years.

"In Reading we have done everything we can to avoid this by making the best possible use of limited resources and to reflect the extent to which our libraries are used.

Cllr Paul Gittings, lead member for culture

"A key part of achieving this involved the feedback we received from our extensive library review and consultation process [in 2015].

"In order to make our library service sustainable for the future and avoid closures, we have worked on ways to deliver it differently.

"In all cases, local libraries will now operate on reduced hours, but we have been determined to do that in that in line with public use.